


For You, All the World

by Subtlety Lost (fishstic)



Series: Winds of Change [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F, I'm working on something, so for now I'm leaving off the gender tags for this quizzie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-26 19:30:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18288779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishstic/pseuds/Subtlety%20Lost
Summary: Gailana Lavellan knows a lot of things. She knows how to flirt, how to talk, and how to shoot a dragon in the eye from 100 meters away. The one thing she doesn't know, is why the thought of having to wear a dress makes her feel sick.Josephine Montilyet knows a lot of things. She knows where Clan Lavellan moved to, that Dalish culture is so different from her own that the Inquisitormustbe having problems adjusting, and that Gailana is one of the nicest people she's ever met. One of the things she doesn't know, however, is just how set against wearing a dress the Inquisitor is.The thing about not knowing something is, if you don't ask, you'll never get an answer.





	For You, All the World

Gailana had started the letter five times. Five. It wasn't even a difficult letter, she was just writing to her clan to tell them about some of the elven artifacts the Inquisition had uncovered. But every word seemed wrong. _Haselan would know what to say. It's his place of expertise after all._

She had been so concentrated on the letter that she hadn't noticed when Josephine had entered the room. Sometimes she could swear that Josephine was almost as good at moving in stealth as Leliana was. She’d just put her pencil down and looked up when she noticed her standing there at the top of the stairs, looking as beautiful as ever. _I hope I’m not blushing._

“Mistress Lavellan, I'm glad I caught you here. Do you have a moment?” Josephine asked.

“For you, Lady Montilyet, I have a thousand moments,” Gailana replied. She stretched and then stood up and walked over to the fireplace so she could put more wood on the fire. The room was entirely too chilly for her and definitely for Josephine. “What did you need?”

“I was hoping we could discuss some matters related to the Ball at the Winter Palace,” Josephine said.

Gailana made a noncommittal noise as she stepped back from the fire. “Matters such as clothes, manners, and dancing? Or matters such as how I plan to stop an assassination?”

Josephine smiled. “We could start with clothes and move down the list?”

“Very practical,” Gailana said. “I like lists.”

Josephine raised a brow but chose not to comment on what was probably a bad joke. “Do you have a preferred color for the dress you will be wearing, Inquisitor?”

“Dress?” Gailana frowned slightly and tried to focus on the things Josephine was telling her but her mind was fixated on that one detail. _Why do I have to wear a dress? I don't want to wear a dress. What if she asks why I don't want to wear a dress? How can I explain when I don't even know myself?_

“You must look nice for the ball, Inquisitor,” Josephine said. “Are you alright?”

Gailana tilted her head slightly trying to hide her internal panic over the whole dress thing. “So I _have_ to wear a dress?” She sounded defeated and there hadn't even been an argument yet. She didn't want to argue with Josephine.

“Is there something else you would prefer? Perhaps--my research was inconclusive on this matter--does your clan have formal attire that you would prefer?” Josephine asked.

Gailana blinked. Her clan did have several types of formal attire but none that would represent the Inquisition well and all had a very specific purpose and occasions which they could be respectfully worn for. “Anything but a dress, Lady Montilyet. Please. The clan doesn't have anything that quite fits the needs of this occasion. _Please_ , Josephine, anything but a dress.” She was practically whining and half begging.

“There are a number of other options, Gailana, don't worry. You don't have to wear a dress,” Josephine said.

Gailana smiled slightly and nodded, knowing that Josephine was trying to reassure her. She had nothing to fear, she hoped, at least as long as Josephine was the one organizing this. “What are some of those other options? Hopefully something easy to move in. It would look bad on all of us if I were to trip over my own clothes while dancing.” She paused a moment then said quietly, “I don't know how to dance. What if that looks bad? What if i do something embarrassing?”

“You'll be fine, Inquisitor,” Josephine said as she noted something on her clipboard. “Dancing is a learned skill, one I'm sure you'll pick up on quickly. As for the other options, Lady Vivienne and her tailor were working on the design for a formal Inquisition uniform, that are also suits, and formal ceremonial armor is an option, though it does not quite suit the needs of a grand masquerade, you would probably look quite nice in it.”

“A uniform?” Gailana considered this. There were a lot of different meanings to the word ‘uniform’ perhaps this was one that might actually make Cullen look like he belonged with the Inquisition. “If I wear the uniform, will everyone else get a variation of the uniform to wear themselves? I know Cullen probably needs one and Sera likely doesn't want to wear a fancy dress any more than I do.” She smiled slightly. “Perhaps Lady Vivienne could design a dress version of the uniform as well for those of us who _want_ to wear a dress? Are you going to wear a dress, Lady Montilyet? I bet you would look lovely in one. Of course you look lovely in everything you wear.”

“I might wear a dress,” Josephine said. “I would rather not be the _only_ one wearing a dress though.”

“I’m sure if you asked, Leliana might wear a dress,” Gailana suggested. “Though... don’t tell her I made the suggestion, she’s scary enough as it is without her getting mad that I think she’d look nice in a dress.”

“Perhaps,” Josephine murmured. “Inquisitor, if I may, Leliana’s been... rather testy lately whenever I mention you, are you and her having some kind of disagreement?”

“Well...” Gailana hesitated. What was she supposed to say to that? Yesterday, Leliana had practically read her the riot act about treating Josephine proper and not hurting her, and all because she’d been a little flirtatious. It honestly seemed like a misunderstanding, Josephine didn’t seem to ever even notice when she was flirting with her. _Wonder if it’s because I’m an elf that she hasn’t noticed? Or is she just that cute and oblivious?_

“Well?” Josephine pressed. “If you two are having an argument, I’d certainly like to know if I could assist in ending it.”

“Well... actually...” She rubbed her hands together nervously. “The thing is... well... the ‘argument’ as you put it, well... it was about you.”

“About... me?” Josephine seemed confused, as she probably should be, if she really hadn’t noticed that Gailana was flirting with her. “Well,” she tapped her quill against her clipboard decisively, “I’m certain I can assist in ending this argument then.”

“We were... disagreeing over...” _Creators if I admit it she’s either going to get mad at me or at Leliana._ “Over whether or not I...”

“Inquisitor, just say it.”

“We had a fight, if you can call it that, about whether or not I was just... leading you on. Leliana doesn’t want to see you get hurt, but I don’t think she believes me when I insist that I’m not trying to hurt you I—”

“I _cannot believe her,”_ Josephine snapped lightly, startling Gailana into silence. “Of all the overprotective selfish things she has _ever_ said about me, I can’t believe she has the nerve to think I can’t tell when someone is trying to flirt with me. I think I would _know_ if someone’s compliments were intended to be pursuant of a romantic relationship.”

Gailana almost laughed, but she bit it back. “Josephine, Lady Montilyet, my compliments toward you, are very much intended to be pursuant of a romantic relationship, as you so put it. I’ve been flirting with you for months.”

“Wait really?” Josephine stopped midrant and just kind of stared at Gailana like it was the first time she’d ever seen her.

“Yes, really,” Gailana replied. “Well... you were flirting back... so I thought...” her face fell slightly, “I thought you... were maybe interested back.”

“I... didn’t...” Josephine cleared her throat and then said, with more composure, “Well... now I feel a bit silly. I thought you were... just being friendly. I... I’ll admit, my studies into Dalish culture have been... rather inconclusive about... everything, honestly. When I asked Leliana and the Champion about it, since they’ve had first hand experience with Dalish, they told me that it’s how Meiriana and Merrill acted toward, pretty much everyone. So I just assumed it was a cultural thing, that the Dalish are just excessively complimentary toward people they respect.”

“You asked two women who are _dating_ a Dalish Elf, how that one acts towards them, and didn’t think that maybe they act that way because they’re in love?” Gailana asked.

“I made a mistake,” Josephine admitted. “I meant no disrespect by it. I just... I was trying to figure out if you felt the same way about me that I did about you. But I guess I went about it wrong. I was worried that if you didn’t, you might get offended that I had even considered it.”

“Any particular thing I did to give you some indication that I might have been offended by you thinking I have a crush on you?” Gailana asked. “Because if there is such a thing, I’d like to know so I can stop doing it.”

“It’s nothing in particular that you did,” Josephine admitted sheepishly. “It’s just... a lot of people flirt with me, for some reason or another, and I... well,” she blushed slightly and finished her sentence rather quietly, “I’m unused to people genuinely expressing affection toward me with no ulterior motive. I was worried that maybe... maybe I was reading too much into your friendliness and you’d get... upset if all you wanted was friendship and I tried to make it something more.”

Gailana nodded. “Well, Lady Josephine, where do we go from here? Now that I know for certain you like me, and you know for sure that I like you. What happens next?”

”You... don’t know?” Josephine asked suspiciously.

“I’ve never had a girlfriend before,” Gailana admitted truthfully, “or a boyfriend.”

“To tell the truth, neither have I,” Josephine replied."There's a first time for everything, Inquisitor.”

“So then, what happens now?” Gailana asked.

“Perhaps you can tell me why you’re so set against wearing a dress?” Josephine asked. “If it’s that you think you’d look bad in one, I can assure you that if we match, we’d be the talk of the party.”

“Instead of the whole assassination attempt, correct?” Gailana joked as she tried to figure out how to explain that she didn’t want to wear a dress because the thought of presenting herself in something so wholly feminine frightened her. She wasn’t entirely sure why the thought of presenting herself that way scared her. After all, she was pretty sure she was indeed a girl. At the very least, she knew she didn’t have the ‘boy’ parts that Haselan had, she still remembered having that talk with her mother when she was really little. No, she wasn’t sure why she felt like she _shouldn’t_ wear a dress. But she couldn’t just say that to Josephine.

“Yes,” Josephine replied with a smile. “Instead of the whole assassination attempt.”

“To tell you the truth, Josephine, it’s because...” _I have to say something!_ “I’ve never worn a dress before,” _well at least I’m not lying,_ “and the thought of having to wear something... so...” _feminine_ “bulky? I think that’s the word. I’ve seen some Orlesian dresses. There’s so many layers and frills to them. So much lace and ribbons and...” She took a moment to take a deep breath and calm her mind enough that she wouldn’t start rambling about impractical she thought dresses seemed to be. “I feel like I would not be able to move comfortably and easily in one.”

“That is understandable,” Josephine replied, “We can still match even if you’re not wearing a dress.”

“I feel like that might make Leliana jealous,” Gailana pointed out. “I think she has a crush on you.”

“Oh please, she’s probably at least twelve years older than me,” Josephine replied. “She’s more like an older sister.”

“One who would kill to protect you,” Gailana said.

“Do you not have an older sibling?” Josephine asked.

“Well... no actually,” Gailana replied. “Isenama isn’t my sister, she’s my dad’s sister’s daughter. My cousin. Vherain and Haselan are both younger than me.”

“Then you must understand how Leliana feels,” Josephine offered. “Would you not feel the same way if someone you barely know was trying to get with your little brother or sister?”

“Oh definitely for Vherain, she can’t be trusted around—” Gailana stopped midthought, Vherain was six years younger than her. She wasn’t a child, but she most certainly wasn’t an adult yet. It was less that she didn’t trust Vherain to know what’s best for herself and more that she didn’t trust anyone else to be as good as Vherain deserves. “Haselan can handle himself I’m sure, but I wouldn’t hesitate to beat someone up if they hurt him. He’s kind and gentle, really. Vherain... deserves the chance to be young and stupid. To make mistakes. But, if someone hurt her... like really really hurt her not just made her sad by breaking up with her, I’d... I’m not sure. She’s strong, it’d take a lot to hurt her before, but—”

“But if it came to it, you’d kill to protect her?”

“Absolutely,” Gailana replied. “She can be really really stupid sometimes about some things. And sometimes I might think she’s absolutely the most annoying person in all of Thedas. But I love her. I’d do anything to keep her safe.”

“Now, Gailana,” Josephine started.

“Please, if you don’t mind, can you just call me Gail?” Gailana interrupted. “I mean... I love hearing you say my name instead of calling me Inquisitor, but I prefer the short version of my name.”

Josephine nodded and smiled. “Now, Gail, if you’re not going to be wearing a dress. I’d appreciate if you’d maybe accompany me and Madam Vivienne to Val Royeaux. I don’t think you’re acquainted with her tailor yet, and I’m sure both Madam Vivienne and her tailor would appreciate your professional input on the designs for the dress uniform.”

“Dress uniform?”

Josephine nodded again. “It simply refers to the ‘formal’ version of the uniform. You know of our informal field uniform already, it’s what all the scouts and soldiers wear.”

“Oh,” Gailana gasped, “I didn’t realize there was a... fancy... term of it.” She blushed slightly and mumbled about how Common was a dumb language before continuing, “I thought those were just ‘armor’ and a ‘uniform’ automatically implied something fancy or formal.”

“Does your clan not speak Common much?” Josephine asked.

“Well... we do mostly wander the Free Marches, and Common is the most spoken language there, but my clan speaks Elven a lot... Dalish. Our language. A lot of the language itself is lost, but we speak it as much as possible and share all that we know of it with our brother and sister clans. Over half our clan was... not originally part of Clan Lavellan, but when we were camped out on the edge of the Free Marches near the Antivan border, we took in the remaining members of a clan from Antiva who had had a really... bad... run in with some less than savory humans. They taught my clan Antivan because they spoke it better than common. We taught them to speak Common and Elven, at least as much as we could.”

“You speak Antivan?” Josephine asked sounding as though she were forcibly trying not to get too excited at the thought.

“Kind of?” Gailana replied. “It’s... not my strongest skill, I’ll admit. But neither is Common if I’m honest.”

“How much do you know?” Josephine smiled slightly, “I could teach you if you’d like to learn more.”

“I know enough to say... _Amo você_ ,” she replied, “I love you.”

Josephine blushed and then said quietly, “Is that all you know how to say?”

“Ah... no,” she replied, “I’ve been... saving up some, I asked... well... I don’t know if I’ll end up saying he correctly, because I just know what was written. But I did learn some for you.”

“Try it,” Josephine pressed, “I promise even if you say it wrong I’ll still be nothing but impressed. It’s not often that someone wants to learn Antivan.”

“ _Se você fosse uma estrela, eu seria um astrônomo_ ,” Gailana replied. “If you were a star, I would be a stargazer. I’ll admit, I... did try to go for something... romantic.”

“You learned... to flirt, in Antivan... for me?” Josephine asked quietly.

Gailana nodded. “I did,” she admitted sheepishly. “I thought maybe you’d understand my intentions better in your own language.”

Josephine blushed and smiled. “Perhaps, I would have,” she admitted. “Oh, but we mustn’t keep Madam Vivienne waiting too long.”

“Is anyone else coming with us?” Gailana asked as she headed over to her closet to locate her coat. “Should I bring extra clothes? How long do you think this will take?”

“Given that it takes about a week just to get to Val Royeaux from here, definitely bring extra clothes, Gail,” Josephine said.

“Well, yeah, but I meant in addition to what I’d normally bring on the way to Val Royeaux,” Gailana replied sheepishly.

“I would recommend bringing more than you usually do,” Josephine replied. “Gail, I’m not blind, I know how light you normally pack.”

“Well... there’s not much room for excess when you’re... fighting,” Gailana replied. She bit her lip. “I’m sorry,” she added quietly. “I’m Dalish, I’m used to traveling light. I’m... still not quite used to the fact that I’m not going to have to pack up and move any time soon. Maybe you could... maybe you could help me?”

“Help you?”

“Yeah, you’re... well, you’re noble so you know more about like... expectations and things,” Gailana said as she moved to searching her dresser for some shirts she could bring with her. “Maybe you could help me, figure out what to bring?”

Josephine narrowed her eyes slightly then said, “You would trust my judgment even after I attempted to get you to wear a dress?”

“You did not attempt to force me into a dress,” Gailana noted. “You simply suggested a dress, and relented when I said I would not be comfortable in one.”

Josephine walked over then, setting her clipboard on top of the dresser. “Still, you’d trust my judgment on what to wear?”

“Why are you asking like that’s something you don’t think is wise?” Gailana asked. “ _Eu faria qualquer coisa por você._ ”

“I doubt you actually mean that,” Josephine replied. “You won’t wear a dress for me.”

Gailana frowned slightly, “Okay, _almost_ anything. I would do _almost_ anything for you. Why is it so important to you that I wear a dress?”

Josephine started reaching into the dresser but stopped for a moment. “I...” She thought about it for a moment then said, “I’m sorry. It’s kind of stupid.”

“What?”

“The reason,” Josephine replied. “It’s kind of stupid.”

“You can tell me, I won’t judge you,” Gailana replied. “Believe me, I feel like my reasons for not wanting to wear a dress are stupid.”

“No, your reasons are valid, you’ve never worn one before, of course you wouldn’t be comfortable wearing one.” Josephine looked away for a moment and then said, “I had a dream.”

“A dream?”

Josephine nodded. “Yes. You were in a dress, so was I. We were dancing together.” She blushed and then smiled slightly. “It felt like there was no one else in the whole world. No responsibilities, no judgments, no problems. Just you and me, dancing.”

Gailana smiled and placed a hand on Josephine’s gently. “ _Vamos dançar?_ ”

Josephine chuckled. “Not now,” she replied with a smile that reached her eyes. “We need to find you clothes. You should look as nice as your personality.”

Gailana grinned. “Maybe I should look as nice as you.”

“You should,” Josephine replied, completely missing the compliment. “I have some clothes you could try on. So we could see what colors would look good on you. Our skin is close in color, but your eyes are the most amazing blue-green that I’ve ever seen.”

“Anything for you, Josie,” Gailana replied. “I’d move all the world for you. _Para você, todo o mundo._ ”

**Author's Note:**

> Most of the phrases were translated within the text, but of the three that weren't, one's the title (Para Você, Todo o Mundo -- "for you, all the world") and the other two are:
> 
> Vamos dançar? -- Shall we dance?
> 
> Eu faria qualquer coisa por você. -- I would do anything for you.
> 
> I'm postive of my translation on all of them except the title and the second phrase here, but I'm getting my boyfriend to look over them later to make sure.


End file.
